Seattle private equity firm Evergreen Pacific Partners is using some of its financial muscle to merge Radiant Imaging and Zemax Development Corp., makers of testing and measurement tools for LED devices. As a result of the deal — terms of which are not being announced — the company has named Paul Caragher CEO. He most recently was president of Tektronix Service Solutions.
Zemax’s software is used by optical engineers for lens design, illumination, laser beam propagation, stray light, fiber optics and other optical technology applications. Radiant’s technology is used for LED display correction and defect detection.
The companies technologies are used on both small and large LED screens. (For example, they did the testing on the Qwest Field scoreboard in Seattle).
“We will be able to grow faster and go farther together,” said Ron Rykowski, who founded Radiant in 1992 and will remain with the merged company. “With access to capital from Evergreen and economies of scale, we can develop integrated solutions that deliver increased value to customers and generate new revenue opportunities for the company.”
Zemax founder Ken Moore added: “This merger will allow us to transform into a global optics design, test and measurement leader with the infrastructure and capacity to serve our customers where they are – which is increasingly in Asia.”
The newly-merged company will operate from a facility in Redmond, and for now both companies will maintain their existing brands.
Evergreen Pacific Partners manages $700 million. Most of its investments have been made in areas outside of technology, including Gene Juarez Salons & Spas, Haney Truck Line, Nickel Plate Express and Nuprecon.
John Cook is co-founder of GeekWire. Follow on Twitter: @geekwirenews.
